Orbital is scaling fast as we build the AI technologies powering the future of enterprise productivity. To support this growth, were hiring an experienced and forward-thinking **People Enablement Partner** to design, drive, and deliver how we support and retain world-class talent at Orbital. This is a mid to senior role with both strategic and hands-on ownership to design People Products, influence direction, and shape how our managers and teams operate at scale.
The job, in a nutshell

Youll be one of the first hires in our US People function. Youll report initially to our People Director (based in London), and then to our New York-based VP of People once that role is in place later in our US expansion. As a foundational US People team hire, youll have real influence over how this function (and your role within it) evolves. Were building a modern People team leaning into an 'Employee Experience as a Product' methodology: designing scalable solutions that support individual growth and business success, not just reactive fixes.

Our operating model is built on three main layers: Partner, Product and Platform.

Partner: The layer closest to the people leading teams. It works closely with them, understands the work they do, and helps them lead with confidence and consistency.

Product: The layer that shapes how the organisation works. It designs the frameworks and experiences people use, and improves them as the company grows.

Platform: The operating layer the whole function runs on. It keeps the systems and data underneath effective, integrated, automated and built to scale.

These arent separate sub-teams or job titles; they describe the type of work involved, and act as a flywheel, each layer feeding the other two;

This role sits equally across Partner and Product layers. In practice, this means that youll partner with managers to surface insights, then own the design and implementation of people solutions from start to finish. Your Partnering focus will primarily be our go-to-market teams, which are mostly US-based with some overlap into the UK. Product layer, on the other hand, is designed to work company-wide: youll partner closely with our UK-based People Enablement Partner and People Director so what we build lands consistently across teams and regions.
What youll do

• Partner with managers across the business to diagnose team challenges, surfacing deep insights that will shape our People Product roadmap.
• Enable managers to confidently handle performance, conduct, and team issues through effective coaching, guidance, and accessible resources.
• Apply product management principles, such as user research, problem framing, roadmap prioritization, MVP testing and tracking outcomes, when designing new People processes.
• Design and implement scalable People Products that support employees at all stages, create measurable business outcomes, and scale effectively with the business.
• Own the People Product lifecycle end-to-end: from identifying the foundational problem and designing the solution, through to successful rollout and adoption.
• Serve as a trusted advisor on US employment matters, including multi-state compliance, FMLA administration, leaves of absence, and day-to-day employee relations.
• Identify patterns that signal where new solutions are needed and translate insights into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Find ways to measure outcomes that highlight impact and identify where we still need to improve.
• Iterate on what you build based on real-world feedback; nothing is set and forget.

What you might be working on

Our initial 2026 People team priorities give a flavor of the types of challenges youll help tackle:

• Manager capability: Equipping managers with frameworks and guidance to handle performance, conduct, and team issues at first line.
• Performance enablement: Implementing clear expectations and feedback cycles that scale with team growth.
• US People foundations: Helping build out the US-specific pieces of our People stack, from multi-state compliance to leave administration and benefits enablement.

And these are just the tip of the iceberg. There are still foundational layers to build and new challenges that you will play a central role in identifying and prioritizing.
Requirements
The must-haves

• You have relevant experience in People Partnering and/or People Operations with strength on one side combined with desire to build in the other.
• You have a strong working knowledge of US federal and state employment laws (e.g. FLSA, Title VII, ADA, ADEA, EEO, wage and hour, worker classification).
• Comfortable with at-will employment and managing separations across multiple states, or confident picking up new state requirements as we expand.
• You have hands-on experience with FMLA administration and other leave of absence processes (e.g. state paid family leave programs, ADA accommodations, parental leave), including advising managers and supporting employees through the full leave lifecycle.
• You enjoy working closely with managers as well as building scalable people initiatives and have the ability to transform insights into real business impact.
• You have strong communication and relationship-building skills combined with good judgment and discretion when working with sensitive employee matters and issues.
• You care deeply about employee experience and business impact, and want to find ways to combine these in a meaningful way.
• You thrive in ambiguity where we dont always have all the answers and rewriting People Playbooks excites you.
• You combine strategic thinking with a pragmatic, hands-on approach, operating comfortably across proactive projects while building foundational processes.
• You embrace technology and AI, and actively look for ways they can help you and others work smarter.
• You understand the nuances between urgent and important and how to prioritize accordingly.

And a few nice-to-haves

• Experience in fast scaling tech/AI startups
• Experience working with commercial teams, variable compensation/OTE structures
• Experience supporting organizations operating across both the US and UK (or other international markets)
• Exposure to UK employment law is a plus, given we operate across both markets, though youll have a strong UK-based team to lean on for this.
• Comfort with tools like Hibob and Justworks (or similar HRIS), Notion, Slack and the Google ecosystem

Why youll love it here

• Youll join a startup at an exciting inflection point ahead of a period of high-growth.
• Youll enjoy rethinking how a People team delivers real value through new ways of working and evidence led design.
• Youll have the opportunity to tackle meaningful challenges in a genuinely career-defining role.
• Youll be part of a collaborative, highly ambitious and friendly culture where curiosity and innovation are celebrated.

Why this might not be for you

• You are looking for a conventional HR role; this remit requires passion equal for partnering with managers as well as solving operational challenges, and leaning into opportunities enabled by AI and modern tooling.
• You prefer steady rhythms or high predictability; we are building a new function with big bets and ambitious goals, and the work will stretch your thinking in a supported environment with space to learn and grow.
• You want to follow fully defined processes or you feel uncomfortable with areas that are not yet structured; we are still shaping and rewriting People Playbooks and building foundations for a fast paced AI startup so you need to be comfortable with a level of ambiguity and work-in-progress.

Hiring process

This is our planned process for this role, though there may be slight variations where needed.

If you need any reasonable accommodations at any stage, please let us know!

1. Application review: Well review your resume and application. Due to the high volume of applications, unfortunately, were not able to provide individual feedback at this stage.
2. Screening video call (30 min): A conversation with one of our Talent Partners. Theyll share more about Orbital and the role, hear about your background, and ask some questions about your experience. Youll have time to ask them questions too.
3. Hiring manager call (45 min): A conversation with Riikka (People Director, and your initial hiring manager for this role). Well go into your experience in more depth, your approach to People Partnering and People Product work, and the kinds of challenges youd tackle at Orbital. Plenty of time for your questions too.
4. Take-home task: If the hiring manager interview goes well, well send you a short, realistic scenario: this shouldnt take you more than an hour. Were interested in how you think, not the "right" answer or a full-fledged process. If youre successful, well invite you to the panel discussion. If not, well share feedback.
5. Panel discussion (90 min): Youll present your task and well dig into it together, followed by further questions about your experience. This would be an in-person interview in our New York office.
6. Culture interview (30 min): A conversation about values and how we work with some of our team members. A great opportunity for you to learn more about Orbital as well so bring your questions! Well try to schedule this on the same day as your Panel discussion, but if thats not possible, we can do this remotely at another time too.
7. Offer!!

Benefits

• Compensation: We offer a competitive starting salary in the range of $135,000-$165,000, depending on experience. We share salary ranges upfront to build trust, reduce bias, and support an inclusive process, even as we continue developing our internal pay structures.
• We believe in flexibility, but were also big on in-person collaboration. This role is based in our New York office two days a week, with additional time in as needed for things like all-hands, interviews, or team sessions. Its about being present when it matters, and balancing autonomy with impact.
• 401k match and equity options in a fast-growing start-up.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents.
• Rest and Recharge: 20 days paid holiday (plus public holidays), so you can rest, recharge, and take care of what matters most to you.
• Generous parental leave policy designed to support all parents and caregivers in balancing family and work life, in addition to any state-mandated paid family leave entitlements.
• Professional equipment and personal development budget along with training opportunities to learn and develop your skills.
• Pre-tax commuter benefits to help you get to and from the office.
• Were in the process of building an inclusive, welcoming culture where everyone feels seen and valued. Expect regular team off-sites, shared lunches, and social events, with something for everyone.

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